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Sushi Recipes: Making Tamagoyaki (Japanese Omelette)

My fourth blog on the Sushi Recipes series, the making of Tamagoyaki is something that I’ll remember for a long time. Ever make a dish that you don’t eat, but enjoyed the process of cooking so thoroughly? Tamagoyaki or japanese omelette is definitely one of them for me. It was a few weekends ago, on a lazy Sunday morning. I had the whole house to myself and Tamagoyaki required a level of patience uncalled for in the other recipes I’ve cooked so far. With Kitaro in the background for music pairing, this was quite the experience. The temperature on the stove had to be low so as to not burn the sugar in the egg. Each layer in this japanese omelette had to be cooked slowly and flipped over, building up the layers. Very Zen for a Sunday morning, for sure.

Making Tamagoyaki

You can eat the Tamagoyaki directly as just omelette, stuff this into a sushi roll or serve it over sushi rice wrapped in seaweed. The ingredient list is pretty simple:

Combine the dashi stock, sugar, soy sauce, rice wine and salt in a pan. Stir over low heat until the salt and sugar are completely dissolved. Remove and cool to room temperature. Beat the eggs and add the cooled mixture and combine. Now comes the fun part.

Pour a quarter of the combined mixture into a heated, lightly-oiled pan. Coat the base of the pan evenly and slowly cook the egg until barely set. Pop any air bubbles as they form. Use long chopsticks or spatula and fold the pancake in half and then lightly oil the exposed part of the pan. Pour one third of the remaining mixture and tilt the pan to spread it evenly. Lift the pancake to allow the uncooked mixture to run under the folded pancake. Repeat twice more forming layers of pancake. Here’s a tip to not burn the pancakes: After every fold and a new layer of egg, flip the thicker side of the pancake over so that the newly poured layer cooks a bit more. When it’s all done, tip out of the pan onto a smooth surface before slicing the Tamagoyaki into sushi-sized strips.

Oh and if you haven’t seen the movie Jiro Dreams of Sushi, you so need to watch it. While I made the Tamagoyaki for the first time just a couple of weekends ago, it apparently takes 10 years of apprenticeship before the interns are allowed to make it. Until then? They massage squids for hours to make Tako. 🙂